Love Is Weird
by Collie Parkillo
Summary: It's easy to keep secrets when you think no one shares your feelings, as Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes find out when they fake-date each other to try to fit into the cisgender, heterosexual population of their school. But as this endeavor unexpectedly reveals, you're always less alone than you think. [Not Justicykes, eventual Junithena and Klapollo]
1. One: Athena

"Come on. Out of bed with you. Chop-chop." Athena was awoken by the sound of Aura's impatient tapping on her side table. "It's seven already, you'll miss the seven-thirty bus if you sleep any longer." Before she could protest, Aura was dragging her out of bed and out of her room and into the kitchen.

Her mother sat at the table in front of her, sipping a cup of earl grey tea and reading the medicine section of the morning paper. Her eyes were half-closed, not out of sleepiness but merely out of peace of mind. Quite the contrast to her other-mom, who had run over to the stove and was muttering expletives as she fought with a stuck dial, Athena thought.

Metis looked up. "Good morning, Athena."

"Good morning, Mother."

Metis didn't respond, only continued sipping her tea. Athena sat back in her seat. She vaguely recalled having fallen asleep in her clothes last night, on top of her psychology textbook. She really, really needed to get out of the habit of reading late at night. "Did you tuck me in last night, Mom?"

"That was me, actually," Aura said pointedly. "Dr. Metis over here had fallen asleep at her desk, too. Must run in the family." She snorted, flipping over what was probably supposed to be a pancake but resembled more a large, brown lump. "Speaking of family, you just missed Simon. He ran out the door about five or ten minutes ago. Made himself late because he took too long feeding his damn bird."

Athena giggled. Simon. Aura's brother. He was a little older than herself, taking law classes at a local college. Word had it he'd dropped out of high school, then decided he wanted to take community college classes and then work towards a law degree. She'd come to know him and his "damn bird" pretty well.

Aura set a cup of coffee down in front of Athena. "Drink up."

"Aura, don't entangle her in your caffeine addiction," Metis said, without looking up. "Besides, coffee is unhealthy for children under eighteen."  
"I'm seventeen, Mother!"

"Wait a year. You can have your first cup of coffee along with your driver's license." Metis had looked up, now, and was smiling to show she was joking.

Athena wasn't sure how long it'd been since Aura and Simon had moved in. Honestly, she didn't remember. It didn't matter, anyways. One day Mother had come home with an engineer she'd met at a work party, and it seemed as though Aura had stayed ever since. Mother had never told Athena how she and Aura fell in love, but Athena saw it between them every day. That was the thing about Metis Cykes. She never told you anything with words, but if you knew her well enough, you saw what she was trying to say through actions.

Aura put down a plate of pancakes on the table and sat down. "Seven fifteen, Athena. Eat fast. And drink the coffee while your mother isn't looking."

Metis gave her a glare and Aura burst out laughing. Pretty soon Metis was giggling quietly, too. Athena stuffed a pancake in her mouth, trying not to grimace at how hard and chewy it was. Aura, for all the good things about her, was not a very good cook.

"I've gotta go."

Metis stood up. "Do you want me to drive you to work?"  
"Don't sweat it. I'll take a cab." Aura leaned over and kissed Metis on the forehead. It was rare to see Athena's mothers do anything affectionate in front of her, so Athena tried to photograph the moment in her mind. "Bye, honey."

"Goodbye," Metis said.

"I was talking to Athena." Metis laughed again, and Aura winked at her and then shut the door on her way out.

Athena glanced at the clock on the stove. Seven-twenty. She swallowed a bit of the coffee in front of her, and had an urge to gag. Man, that stuff was bitter. But if it'd keep her awake, she didn't really care. She looked up at her mother. She'd reverted back to the quiet, peaceful state that Athena could never decipher her feelings in.

Scarfing down the last pancake, Athena got up. "I've gotta catch the bus. See you later, Mom."  
"Have a good day, Athena."

She grabbed her backpack off its hook, praying that she'd remembered to put all her homework into it. Oh, well, if she hadn't she'd make up a good excuse.

By the time she'd shut the door behind her and raced down the four flights of stairs the bus seemed to be getting ready to leave. In the city, public transport was the fastest way to get to school. The school-buses didn't come to where Athena's apartment was, so she had to settle for the big, blue and grey cross-town bus.

She greeted the bus driver and swiped her card, then scanned the crowd of people. Fortunately, she didn't have to look very far. "Athena! Athena, over here!"

And then, a more muffled "Not so loud, Trucy! We're on a public bus!"

Apollo Gramarye. Her best friend since sixth grade. And his sister, Trucy, the eighth grader. She sat down next to him as the bus started with a not terribly reassuring noise. She'd been riding the bus with Apollo ever since she'd met him. From the first morning when she'd ridden with him when he'd had sloppily cut short hair and his t-shirts were too big and he faltered when he said his name. Athena had asked him if that was really what he wanted to be called. He had shaken his head. Call me Apollo, he'd said. I'm a boy.

And she'd believed him. She'd smuggled him binders she ordered online and wrote persuasive letters to his parents when he'd been too shy to tell them he wanted to go on testosterone therapy. And now he was here, confident, smiling Apollo sitting next to her on the bus.

"Earth to Athena." He waved his hand in front of her face.

"Oh. Sorry. Just reminiscing." She grinned at him. Trucy sat behind them, peering down at them inquisitively. "How do you always look so awake in the mornings? My mom had to give me a cup of coffee for me to be able to even open my eyes fully."

Trucy giggled. "He gets up really early to do his voice exercises."

"Oh, please, like it's any less dorky than the fact that you stay up late learning magic tricks."

"Your parents are both so much fun-your mom's singing and your dad's magician stuff sound so cool compared to my moms' boring science!" Apollo and Trucy's parents were both relatively famous for their trades. Athena was pleased to know that every time Apollo's mother released an album, she'd get an exclusive signed copy.

"You wouldn't be saying that if you had to hear Dad getting up at 1 AM to practice his Gramarye Miracle."

Trucy rolled her eyes. "You're no fun, Polly. It's no different than your weird voice exercises."

They continued to banter with each other, and Athena felt herself almost dozing off. Apollo tapped her shoulder. "Hey, sleepyhead. Enough of me and Trucy arguing. Did you do the calculus homework?"

"I dunno. I fell asleep on my psychology textbook last night, I can barely remember a thing."

Apollo snorted. "Well, I'm asking you because I didn't."

"Are you going to copy my answers? Ooh, you cheater!"

"No, no, nothing like that! I swear, I just want you to tell me what the questions were!"

Athena laughed, and Apollo's face had reddened the way it always did when he got nervous. Trucy had taken out her iPod and was sitting back, staring out the window. She had the volume much too high, and Athena could faintly hear Taylor Swift's vocals.

"Oh, alright," Athena said, and pulled her math binder out of her bag. "I'll tell you the questions, you write down the answers." Apollo fumbled for his notebook, and they spent the rest of the bus ride on the complex theories of calculus.

The bus screeched to a stop, making Athena almost drop her binder. Trucy waved goodbye as they stepped off the bus. "I'm never gonna get used to having her ride the bus on her own. She's only thirteen. I can't wait until she's in the same school as we are, so I won't have to worry myself over it."

"Oh, psh, she can handle it. Trucy's real mature."

"I'm pretty sure your definition of mature needs a little work, Miss I-Still-Order-From-The-Kid's-Menu."

"I can appreciate good food for less money, okay?!"

The halls of their city public school were bustling with people trying to get a bit of socializing in before the first class. There were girls chatting with each other, boys comparing test scores, and even a bit of making out going on. Wait-was that Hugh O'Conner and Juniper Woods?!

"Ew," Apollo said disinterestedly. Athena's heart was racing, though. Junie. Her Junie. Junie, with her dark hair and beautiful green eyes and constant smile. Junie, who could make anything grow. Athena affectionately referred to her as a flower fairy, because that was exactly what she was. Athena didn't think there was an impure bone in her body.

And she was making out with Hugh O'Conner.

Juniper froze, letting go of Hugh, whose expression was blank. "'Thena, Apollo! Oh, hi!" Her voice was cracking, though. "You've met my boyfriend, Hugh, right?" Hugh's neutral expression turned to a smug grin at the mention of his name.

"O-oh, of course." Athena could barely force out the words. Hugh was known for never getting below an 100 on a test in all of sophomore year. Also for starting an archery club and for being head of mock trial aside Sebastian DeBeste, but all anyone seemed to remember about him was his test scores. "Sorry for, uh, interrupting you."

"Don't let it happen again," Hugh said, looking at her disapprovingly. "Let's go, Junie."

Junie. That was her nickname. No one but her and Juniper knew of that. Junie had to have told him, Hugh O'Conner, the stuck-up jerk they'd both made fun of before! As the pair walked away, Athena felt like curling up on the ground and sobbing.

If the school knew the way she was, they'd blame it on her parents. They'd say she'd gotten 'the gay gene' or whatever it was that Republicans were making up as an excuse for it now. But Athena knew the truth. She knew that she was that way because she'd grown up knowing that there was nothing wrong with it. Aura and Metis had never tried to force her to be anything, so she'd grown up the way she wanted to.

"Athena," Apollo said gently. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Athena bit down on her lower lip. "I...I...It's just not fair!" She had no idea how to convey the emotion in her chest. "You understand, right?! I feel like a green apple in a sea of red apples or something! There's nobody like us here other than us and I don't feel safe anymore and I hate it!"

Apollo put a hand on her shoulder. He wasn't a terribly expressive type, and most of his comfort was nonverbal. "Athena, I feel similarly, and if, well, if it would make both of us feel safer, I have an idea."

* * *

**Well. I've kind of been talking about this fic a lot on tumblr, and here it is, finally. In a nutshell, it's an 'everyone is lgbt+ and no one knows that the others are because heteronormativity is shit' fic. I feel cruel saying that it's an anti-Justicykes fic masquerading as a Justicykes fic, but that's basically it. **

**I'm going to be away from Thursday to Saturday so no updates until then at the very earliest. I look forward to another multichapter fic. **


	2. Two: Apollo

Apollo Gramarye had been around long enough to know a thing or two about the way high school worked.

He'd witnessed it through the eyes of a boy hiding in a sea of girls, lying every other word he said because the truth would yield many more consequences. He'd then seen it through the perspective of the confident, angry boy who no longer lied and instead practically screamed the truth.

It was debatable which resulted in more social discord.

The world of high school was one that revolved around what you had. What phone, how many friends, which grades. It didn't matter which clique you were in. There was always that something, that defining factor that made you fit in or stick out.

And watching Athena, his closest friend, trying to blink the tears from her eyes, he realized that those like him and Athena had no choice but to grapple for the fitting in option in hopes that faking it would be enough to fool everyone.

He recalled only a few days ago when he'd stood in the sweaty, poorly lit boys' locker room, next to the tiny corner locker the physical education department had tossed his things in when he'd requested a change. Unfortunately, it was right next to Daryan Crescend's.

"Hey," Daryan had said, leaning against the locker. Daryan was a tall, gangly boy with an extremely unattractive mullet that he'd dyed black and white as though he was trying to get a skunk's tail on top of his head. Word was that he was a natural blond underneath. "Y'know. I got something to tell ya." Apollo hadn't looked up. "Just as like, y'know, a warning."

"Yes?" Apollo had finally said, hoping it would be quick and painless.

"You'd better be into dudes. 'Cause, you know, no girl's ever gonna date you. Girls like guys who can actually take their shirts off and show 'em something they'll wanna see underneath.."

Apollo's face had reddened, and he'd had the urge to punch Crescend right in his smug face. But of course, he hadn't, and he'd simply fixed the clasp on his binder, pulled his shirt over his head, and walked away.

It wasn't that Apollo was unhappy. He was a pretty cheerful guy. He was displeased with the stereotype that all transgender people did was cry and stare at their bodies in the mirror. Sure, it was tough and it hurt sometimes, and sometimes he did stare at his body in the mirror and cry, but it wasn't like it was all he ever thought about. He had a passion for singing and was an exceptionally talented debater. He was happy, honestly.

But that wasn't enough in high school world. He didn't have the qualifying things to be happy, so how could he be?

And that brought him back to Athena, watching the girl she'd loved for years walk away with Hugh O'Conner of all people. It was that that made him realize that no matter how happy he was, the only way anyone would ever leave him alone was if he played it their way. If he got one of those qualifying things. Like a girlfriend.

Or at least, a pretend one.

"What's your idea?" Athena wiped her nose.

"Well," he began. "I've been thinking about this a lot, and seeing Hugh and Juniper just confirms it. In this social pyramid, when you're dating someone, you move up a lot. People leave you alone." Athena was watching him intently. "Tell me you've never had some douchebag come up to you and say you'll never get a boyfriend."

Athena cocked her head, as if trying to come up with the memory. "Yep. It's happened."

"What I'm getting at is probably gonna sound weird. But here goes. We should pretend to date each other."

Athena sniffled again. "What do you mean?"

"We should tell 'em all that we're dating. Pretend we are. That way people will see us differently and stop harassing us. If it's…if it's too weird, I totally get it, but I know it would make me feel a little safer…"

"You swear this isn't because you have a weird crush on me, Apollo Gramarye? Because I can tell when you lie." A grin was wavering on her lips, and Apollo couldn't help chuckling.

"No, no, don't worry yourself. You aren't my type."

"Do you even have a type?"

"I dunno, I just know you're not it."

"Way to flatter me, asshole!" Before they knew it, both burst out laughing.

After they'd quieted down a bit, Apollo finally said, "So will you do it?"

"I…I think it's good. It'll work. It'll be great to see the look on all their faces." The grin she'd been fighting had finally won its way onto her features. It was good to see her smiling again. Then, as quickly as it had been there, that smile faltered. "Oh, darn! It's 8:20 already! I'd better go!"

"Already?!" Apollo nearly jumped. "Alright, then. See you in biology."

"See you, boyfriend." She winked at him, and Apollo rolled his eyes. Romance was not Athena's strong point.

Apollo's advisory group was headed by Ms. Courte, a history teacher who doubled as a counselor. The moment he walked in, she smiled at him. "Apollo! Good morning!"

Ms. Courte was a cheerful woman of about thirty with laugh-lines on her face and chocolate brown eyes. Everybody liked her, but Apollo had formed a closer bond with her than any of the other students. He recalled crying his eyes out in her office and blubbering about how he'd never have the body he wanted, he'd never be seen the way he wanted to and he'd might as well be dead already.

"Good morning, Ms. Courte." The rest of his advisory was already there. Alita Tiala and Wocky Kitaki, one of the school's hot couples, sat together on the Ms. Courte's office's couch, Alita with her head on Wocky's shoulder. Jinxie Tenma was asleep. Robin Newman and Hugh O'Conner were engaged in an intense-looking game of rock-paper-scissors.

Apollo couldn't look at Hugh the same way now that he knew he and Juniper were...er...together. Hugh, Robin Newman, Juniper Woods, and Myriam Scuttlebutt had been friends since they were like three, and it'd always been...weird to picture any of them dating one of the other. He couldn't put a finger on why, it was just-Weird.

"Anything you all would like to talk about?" Ms. Courte got up from her desk and sat down on one of the armchairs in front of the sleeping Jinxie and the caught-about-to-start-making-out Alita and Wocky.

Alita rolled her eyes. "I'm sick of the cafeteria food. It's not good for me."

"Aw, c'mon, babe, what've you got against Chilly Cheese Heat Wave Doritos?!" Alita sniffed, and Wocky laughed.

"Scissors beats paper!" Robin shouted. Hugh's face was beet red at the defeat. Jinxie suddenly woke with a start and gave a yelp, then a sigh of relief. Pretty soon she was asleep again.

"Anything new? New crushes?" Ms. Courte asked, raising her eyebrows in the way teachers have when they're trying to be cool with the kids and it isn't working.

Apollo's throat tightened. If he was going to make an example out of his and Athena's fake-dating scheme, now was the time to do it. He then cleared his throat. "Well," he started. "Me and Athena. We're together."

Suddenly all the activity stopped.

"CONGRATULATIONS MANNNNNN!" Robin yelled. Wocky was whispering to Alita, who looked a bit stunned. Jinxie was awake. Hugh was smiling but it seemed forced. "Oh, you're so cute together!" She grinned and gave him a hard pat on the back that felt a little more like a slap. Apollo had always thought Robin would be more suited for the wrestling team than the competitive figure skating she did outside of school.

"Thanks, Robin." He tried his best to grin at her.

Ms. Courte looked a little worried, and Apollo gulped. He could probably tell her the truth about it, but not now. She was probably mulling over in her mind all the times Athena had come to her holding back tears about a remark someone had made or a slur someone had thrown at her.

"I'm very happy for you, Apollo," she finally said.

"Thanks," he responded, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he might have bitten off more than he could chew.

* * *

**Finally an update. Seeing as this still has no reviews, I don't think it was terribly long-awaited. Oh, well. This chapter was fun. I'm a trans boy myself and writing trans boy Apollo made me very happy. I like this fic quite a lot.**


	3. Three: Athena

Usually, Athena loved her AP Biology class.

Not because of the class, of course. Nobody would willingly enjoy AP Biology, and least of all Athena. She'd much rather take Psychology or something. Really the only reason she'd taken it was because Junie was too. But as it turned out, she ended up enjoying it much more than she expected.

Mr. Lang, the biology professor, was a tan, six foot five man who it was rumored was a former stripper. He never seemed to confirm or deny this and nobody wanted to ask him, but it probably would explain why he taught almost all the time with his shirt unbuttoned. He also swore in almost every lesson, but the real reason the students loved him was because he was always late.

What student doesn't dream of having fifteen minutes in the morning to sip their coffee, do any homework they forgot, or goof off with their friends? And Mr. Lang almost always offered that.

But today, class seemed...unwelcoming.

"Junie?" Athena sat back in her desk chair, searching for her friend amidst the class. Robin Newman sat in the chair in front of her, tapping her fingers on the table. "Hey, Robin, you seen Juniper anywhere?"

"Nuh-uh." Robin shook her head. "You know, Athena, just between you and me, things have been...weird with Juniper lately. Hugh, too. See, they don't seem to really even like each other. But the thing is, it was Juniper who asked him out. I just don't get it, man."

As if on cue, Juniper walked into the room, Hugh in tow. "See, watch," Robin whispered. "Hugh looks at Sebastian, who he usually sits with, and Juniper just stands there looking confused for a few minutes and sits down next to him. They don't even seem to want to be around each other. They used to be such great friends like the rest of us!" Robin's usual wide grin still dominated her features, but Athena could sense discord in her voice and her smile was wavering.

Athena looked over at Juniper, aiming a smile at her. Juniper looked away.

"So, I heard about you and Apollo!" Robin said, changing the subject. "He's a real cutie, isn't he?"

Suddenly, Athena felt anger permeating her heart. She'd never want to hurt Junie, and there had to be some good reason for how she was acting, but...but...Metis had called these sort of feelings the adolescent brain in action. It was the chemicals in her brain making her feel things she didn't want to. But Athena couldn't shake the feeling that this was far more than just a chemical.

"Oh, yeah," she said, looking over at Junie and making sure her voice reached her. "Apollo's great. He's cute, he's smart, he gets me. He's the perfect boyfriend." Juniper hadn't looked up, but she'd interlocked her fingers on her lap and was gripping them with white knuckles.

"Great to hear! I'm so happy for you two! He's such a brave guy, Apollo." Robin smiled. "But seriously. That's great." She patted Athena on the back in the much too hard way she had.

Athena's anger was gone, replaced with a dark, lingering guilt. She had no idea why she'd done that. It'd been like an impulse throbbing in her chest, and now that she'd acted on it, her chest felt empty. She couldn't even look at Juniper. Robin had turned around and was texting somebody on her phone.

Conveniently, then Mr. Lang came in. Exactly five minutes late. "Good morning, class," he said dryly. "I've stopped apologizing for being late because I know you guys don't care about it. You're pleased as punch to have the extra free time," he continued, setting his laptop down on the front desk. His MacBook Air had a sticker of some weird blue anthropomorphic cat girl on its silvery back.

All of the students look guiltily down at their desks. Mr. Lang snickered, then started rolling down the projector. "Alright, kiddos, today we're going to talk about examples of natural selection. I hope you all did your homework. If you didn't, you're probably gonna get away with it, because you're in luck! I'm not collecting it today!" He paused as though waiting for applause. "Alright. Apparently it takes more to rile you kids up. Anyways, let's talk about natural selection."

Athena watched as he spent five minutes messing around with the files on his laptop and cursing under his breath at the projector. She stared up at the white, flaky plaster on the ceiling and tried to keep Juniper out of her line of vision. At times like these, Athena hated her ability to sense what people were feeling. Even without looking at her, Athena could feel the burning sadness in Juniper.

Juniper, who was usually so full of life and happiness, felt flat and sad to Athena's mind. It was as though she'd crumpled up a piece of paper and smoothed it out, and although Athena could see the crinkles, she couldn't read the words that had originally been there.

"Athena, would you like to tell me an example of natural selection?" Mr. Lang tapped his blackboard pointer on her desk. "Or are you thinking hard about something else?"

"Sorry, Mr. Lang," she said quietly. "I've just got a lot on my mind."

"I get it. But try to pay attention. We can talk after class if you'd like."

"That's okay. Thanks."

Mr. Lang apparently forgot that he'd asked her about natural selection and moved onto lecturing them about how bees had evolved over time. Athena blinked and tried to shut out the feelings that were emanating from Junie.

She'd read on Yahoo Answers that it was called telepathic empathy. Whatever it was, she despised it. It felt like she was cheating, because she could feel when a new friend didn't like her and was pretending to, or when someone didn't want to talk to her. It was as though people couldn't lie to her, and she'd lost her share of friends from it.

But Athena listened to Mr. Lang talk about how the weakest animals were selected out over time, those with things that set them back from the others. She couldn't help but think that that was her. A girl who was attracted to other girls and who was a living lie detector. She was going to be weeded out someday.

"Are humans naturally selected?" Robin asked, as though reading Athena's mind.

"No," Mr. Lang said, raising an eyebrow. "We can distinguish that those who have qualities that could make them selected are worth protecting. We aren't just acting on survival of the fittest anymore. We've got a society, and can afford to protect people. Weaknesses aren't lethal for us. That isn't the best explanation, but you understand what I mean?"

Robin nodded, and Athena sighed softly. She cast her eyes up to the wall clock, watching the second hand tick along rhythmically. Apollo had been right. It made her feel somehow safer to know that she had her own lie to hide behind if she needed to. Mr. Lang said that humans had developed a society, so they no longer would weed out the weak.

But Athena thought to herself that there was another kind of survival of the fittest in this world of theirs, a survival where you had to understand the society's rules even if you didn't agree with them. You had to be able to pretend. Perhaps that was why chameleons were such successful animals.

Mr. Lang tapped his pointer on his desk. "Alright, class dismissed, kiddos. I'll send the homework to your school emails. Have a good day."

As Athena walked out with her classmates, she caught Juniper glancing at her. But she looked away, clenching her fists and for the first time in her life being glad she didn't have her next class with Juniper Woods.

* * *

**This fic is alive, hooray. Sorry for the lack of updates, school started for me recently and my personal life has been a little cluttered. Let's just say I'm going through something very similar to Apollo in this fanfic and leave it at that. But anyways. I love this fic dearly and it will not be abandoned.**

**Oh, and for the reviewer who wanted Klavier, fear not. Perhaps in the next chapter.**


	4. Four: Apollo

Unlike Athena in her AP biology class, Apollo couldn't slack off. He had Mr. Means for pre-calculus. To anyone in that shoddy public high school, the very name was enough to make a student cry.

"I am going to take attendance," Mr. Means said, tapping his pointer on the black board. He was a huge man, almost six feet tall, and no one knew his age but he just seemed perpetually…old.

He went through the list, and when he got to Gramarye Apollo chimed out "Present!"

Then Mr. Means got to Myriam Scuttlebutt. She sat in the back, chewing gum, her arms folded over her chest. Her pigtailed hair was dark purple and Apollo had always thought it was a clever color decision because once it faded her roots were black, so it wouldn't be noticeable.

"Scuttlebutt?"

"Here."

Means turned around. "Do you mean 'Present', Ms. Scuttlebutt?"

"No. I mean 'here.'"

"Are you chewing gum, Ms. Scuttlebutt, or is it just my imagination?" Any sensible person would have said 'No, Mr. Means, you're imagining it.'

But Myriam grinned. "Yes."

"Spit that out, Ms. Scuttlebutt!"

Myriam sat there, gum still in her mouth.

"Will you please remove your gum, Ms. Scuttlebutt?"

"Now that you asked nicely," she said, walking over to the trashcan and disposing of the gum. She sat back down, fiddling with her hair as Means began to go over the homework from last night. Apollo thanked every deity that he'd done it on the bus. Means wasn't a happy camper when someone was missing their homework.

Eventually Apollo starting clicking his pen and tapping his foot on the floor, staring at the clock. Time seemed to slow down in math class. Math wasn't his strong point. He'd been evaluated as dyscalculic in third grade, and had had to take a summer course in order to even be in this class.

He raised his hand. "Yes, Mr. Gramarye?"

There was always a collective discomfort from everyone else when teachers addressed him as 'Mr.' He couldn't explain how he could feel it, he just could. The way some people looked at each other or avoided looking at Apollo. "May I use the bathroom?"

"Yes." Apollo stood up and walked out. He didn't actually have to go, but what Mr. Means didn't know wouldn't hurt him. As he approached the bathroom he prayed that no one was in the men's room. At least he knew Daryan was in class, since they shared a math class. That was one hurdle out of the way.

Apollo shut his eyes and opened the door. His prayers apparently hadn't been answered, because somebody was in front of the mirror…doing their hair?

Klavier Gavin stood there, slathering gel into his blond locks. He seemed to notice Apollo in the mirror and turned around. Apollo had never thought Klavier was that cute, but in the dim light of the bathroom he looked like…well, like a rock star with his golden skin and his hair shiny with gel and his million-dollar smile.

Apollo quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket. There was a text from Trucy.

_ Hope ur having a good day! remember to take off ur binder every now and then! btw mom told me i have a dentist appt so dont freak out when i dont meet u at the bus stop_

"You are Apollo, are you not?" Klavier's combination of a German accent and an American one gave a certain lilt to his words. He came from a successful family in Germany, apparently. He was fairly well-known for his brother, a recent graduate, being the head of a tutoring program.

"Yeah. That's me. You're Klavier. Everybody knows that." Apollo put his phone down.

Klavier laughed. "Really? My reputation must be very interesting."

Apollo wasn't used to bathroom conversation with other guys, especially not Klavier. He was just very thankful he hadn't walked in on him in front of the urinal or something.

"Believe me, mine is too." Klavier started putting gel in his hair again. "Uh. What class do you have?"

"American Legal History. And yourself?"

"Pre-calc."

"With Mr. Means?" Klavier laughed again. "I trust that you are trying to spend as much time in the bathroom as you possibly can. He was my teacher last year. A tough one, that Mr. Means."

"Yeah, you can say that again."

They stood there for a little while. It was…kind of nice, actually. Klavier didn't give him disgusted looks or tell him to scram from the men's room.

"Are you a math person?" Klavier broke the silence.

"No. I'm dyscalculic."

"That doesn't mean you have to hate it, but I will not tell you what you should and shouldn't like, Herr Gramarye." Apollo kind of wished Klavier would stop inserting random German into conversation. "Do you need a tutor?"

"Uh…maybe?" He was sure his parents would love it if he got a tutor.

"Ah. I am sure you know of my brother's program. Here, I will give you his business card." Klavier pulled a blue card out of his purple leather jacket. Apollo was pretty sure that jacket broke some sort of fashion law. "The sessions take place at my family's apartments, so perhaps it would be a chance to get to know each other." Klavier winked at him.

Apollo wished his face didn't feel so hot. "T-thanks. I'll definitely consider it. Now I really have to pee, so conversation over." He shut the stall door, making sure he stayed in there long enough to hear Klavier leave.

When Apollo returned to Mr. Means' class, it'd been approximately five minutes since he left. Not much had changed. Means was lecturing Daryan about putting his feet on the table. Myriam had taken out her phone while Mr. Means wasn't looking and nobody seemed to want to correct her.

Apollo took out Klavier's brother's business card. The Gavins lived north from where Apollo did. He was pretty sure they were filthy rich off of whatever it was the family did. It might be fun to go to some rich kid's house. He'd never seen a rich kid apartment. During his next free period he'd schedule an appointment on the website on the business card.

But for now he was stuck in Mr. Means' math class, so that would have to wait.

* * *

**For the reviewer who was awaiting Klavier, Klav Gav is now officially a part of the cast. I believe with this chapter we're starting to reach the end of the exposition stage of this fic, so things will start happening soon, I promise.**


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